Meddling with the Past
by mischiefmanaged0116
Summary: In Harry's fifth year, Professor Umbridge gets a hold of seven books on Harry's life. The books are read aloud in the Great Hall to the students, professors, and some guests (including everyone's favorite ex-convict, werewolf, and metamorphmagus.) As all of the Golden Trio's secrets are revealed, including some that weren't in the books, will anything ever be the same?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Sirius Black would never have gone to Azkaban.

Prologue

Harry Potter was sitting on his godfather's bed in Grimmauld Place. It had been a week since the "Battle of Hogwarts," a week since Voldemort had been defeated. All around the Wizarding World, there were dinners, galas and celebrations being held. Harry would know. He had been invited to just about all of them. Everyone was celebrating Voldemort's downfall. Everyone, that is, except for him.

How could he celebrate? So many people had died. He couldn't help but feel that most of the deaths that had happened had been his fault in some way. So many people had died trying to protect him, and now that the war was all over, the guilt was eating him alive. And that was why instead of celebrating, he was staring at the wall painted scarlet and gold. To him, it represented courage, bravery, defiance, and most of all, loyalty. It represented his godfather, Remus, Tonks, his parents, Dumbledore...it represented the fallen.

He had given a speech after the battle, against his better judgement. He hadn't wanted to talk about the war that tore his family away from him. However, it was expected of the Boy-Who-Lived. So he talked about those who died. He told everyone that was there that it wasn't a true victory. Yes, the threat had been eliminated, but so many lives had been lost in the process. That those who died were the heroes, not him. Those who watched their loved ones being killed but still kept fighting were the heroes, not him. No one listened though. He destroyed Voldemort, and now he was a savior, and a hero.

There had been an excessive amount of funerals since the battle. That was the only time he had left Grimmauld Place. To pay his respects for the people who had died for him. Harry owed them that much.

"Harry?" Hermione asked from outside the door.

"What?" He asked, sharper than he meant it to be.

"Mate, let us in. You'll like this." Ron told him.

"What is it? Another article on how we saved the universe?" Harry was skeptical. There was nothing that could make him feel better. Unless it was a way to change the past.

"Well, if you'll let us in, you'll find out, won't you?" Ginny stated. His heart skipped a beat. Ginny was here?

Ultimately, that was what made Harry open the door and hear them out. As soon as he opened the door, Ginny ran and hugged him. Hermione and Ron walked in with a large bag in their hands.

"Okay, so what's all this?" Harry asked. He was curious, but also detached. He didn't want to hope for something just to get his dreams killed. It had happened too many times in the past. Not to mention, he was blocking off all his emotions. If he let them roam free, he would be trampled.

"A way to change the past." Hermione said. Harry immediately tried to object, but someone had placed a silencing charm on him. Ginny was smirking.

"Hear us out, okay? Don't judge yet." Ron asked him. Harry silently sighed and nodded. He didn't exactly have much of a choice.

* * *

"You want to create seven books with my memories and then send them back in time to Umbridge? Are you totally out of your mind?" Harry nearly screamed. His emotions finally broke through, and they were so great that they broke the silencing charm. This was beyond insane it was...totally psychopathic. There was no way. Ever.

"Harry calm down."

"It is slightly bonkers Mione." Harry didn't even see how it was possible.

"Harry, it might be the only way to save Sirius." Ginny said, and all of his arguments began to fade away. "And Remus and Tonks. Do it for Teddy, Harry. Do it so he can grow up with his parents."

"Fine. But only for them." Harry said after a few moments of deliberation before smiling slightly. "I'm going to hate myself aren't I? You know, for making myself go through this?" Everyone just looked at him, trying to figure out what he just said.

"Mate, you're more confusing than Mione, and that's saying something. Can we just get this over with?" Ron asked. Everyone laughed.

"Okay Hermione, work your magic." Harry laughed at the pun, as everyone else rolled their eyes with a slight smile on their faces.

"Lay down and close your eyes. I'm going to take out your memories and duplicate them. Then-"

"Just do it Hermione." Harry said with a roll of his eyes before he closed them. She began muttering a spell and waving her wand. Harry saw the last seven years flash in front of his eyes before he was back in total darkness. There was what felt like a hole in his memory, and then suddenly, the memories came flooding back. After adjusting to the the information that rushed through his brain, Harry opened his eyes to see seven books.

"These books outline the most important things that happened throughout our seven years of Hogwarts. Or at least, what should have been our seven years at Hogwarts." Hermione said smugly. Harry's jaw dropped.

"If I ever doubt you again..." He began.

"All will be right with the world. Now, let's send these books back in time."

* * *

Professor Dolores Umbridge walked into her office after a long day of classes one cold January evening. She had just finished a detention with Potter. The little liar. She needed a way to discredit him. A way to make everyone see that everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. And the very thing was sitting on her desk when she sat down. Seven books about Potter and a letter.

_Professor D. Umbridge, _

_These books have been put together through a trustworthy source and will reveal all of Mr. Potter's lies throughout his seven years at Hogwarts. These books need to be read aloud to the Great Hall starting tomorrow morning. Once reading has began, time will stop and no one will be able to leave the Hogwarts grounds. The books will not be able to be read until all of the following people are present: All students, All teachers, Remus Lupin, his dog Snuffles, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, The __entire_ _Weasley family, Cornelius Fudge, Amelia Bones, Mad-eye Moody, and Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy. _

_We solemnly swear that this is the truth on our magic and our lives. _

_Sincerely, _

_The D.A. _

Professor Umbridge ran straight to Professor Dumbledore's office, where the proper arrangements were made for the next morning.

* * *

"All students please report to the Great Hall immediately!" The toad's voice was heard over the loudspeaker throughout the entire school. Harry sighed. Anything that put her in such a good mood would be sure to put him in a foul one. He met up with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George. They all walked down to the Great Hall, and as they walked in, every teacher's eye was on Harry.

"Hem hem." Came Umbridge's obnoxious throat clearing. She then proceeded to read the letter she had received aloud, to many protests.

"NO! THERE IS NO WAY! IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?" Harry yelled. Just then, the Great Hall doors opened and everyone who had been mentioned in the letter came in.

"Is this legal?" Remus asked as soon as he walked in and heard the letter, to cheers of the third years and above, excluding the Slytherins.

"Yes, and any student who protests will receive detention. So Mr. Potter, one detention for protesting and one for shouting at your superior." Umbridge grinned evilly.

"No detentions may be given and no points may be taken away for anything in the books. Anything that is currently happening is fair game, except for those detentions. It is Mr. Potter's life after all, and he has the right to object even though reading the books is mandatory." Those words from Dumbledore wiped the grin off of Umbridge's face. Although no one noticed, Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face, as did Ginny.

As Harry sighed in relief, Remus, Snuffles, Tonks and the Weasleys (minus Percy) came and sat at the Gryffindor table, Lucius and Narcissa sat at the Slytherin table, and everyone else sat at the Staff Table, which had been enlarged.

"Well? Let's begin. Book one is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Chapter One, The Boy who Lived." Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. This was not going to be good.


	2. Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Peter Pettigrew would have been killed by Sirius or Remus.

A/N: Wow! Never expected for people to actually read this! This chapter is dedicated to all those who have reviewed, favorited, or followed. Please keep reviewing, and I'll try to have the next chapter up soon.

On a totally unrelated note (no pun intended) there is a poll on my profile for how you feel about Dumbledore. The poll is mainly for another story I'm working on, but haven't posted, however I appreciate the feedback. Now that that's out of the way, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived

"CHAPTER ONE **THE BOY WHO LIVED" **Umbridge Began.

"Hey Harry,-"

"That's you!" Fred and George yelled.

"You don't say?" Harry said sarcastically.

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say**

**that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last**

**people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious,**

**because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

"Can we just skip over this part? Like, until I get to Hogwarts?" Harry begged.

"No, now shut up!" Umbridge screeched.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made**

**drills. **

"What are-?" A pureblood started to ask.

"I will compose a list of muggle items and explain them at the end of each chapter." Professor Burbage told her.

**He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did**

**have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had**

**nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she**

**spent so much of her time craning over garden****fences****, spying on the**

**neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their**

**opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

"Small-"

"Boy?" The Weasley twins asked as everyone who had ever met Dudley started laughing.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and**

**their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't**

**think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs.**

**Potter was Mrs. Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years;**

**in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her**

**sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was**

**possible to be. **

"James/My Dad was not good for nothing!" All the adults and Harry yelled.

"And UnDursleyish isn't a word." Hermione muttered.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would**

**say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the**

**Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy**

**was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want**

**Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what exactly?" Remus, McGonagall, Tonks, and all the Weasley's (minus Percy) asked. Since Sirius couldn't say anything, he growled, causing Harry to pet his head.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story**

**starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that**

**strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the**

**country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for**

**work, and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming**

**Dudley into his high chair.**

"Charming people." Bill said sarcastically.

**None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Tonks yelled. Mad-eye looked at her approvingly while Remus winced. She was sitting next to him and had yelled in his ear...forgetting about his heightened werewolf senses.

**At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs.**

**Dursley on the cheek, and tried to kiss Dudley good-bye but missed,**

**because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the**

**walls. "Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. **

**He got into his****car** **and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of**

**something peculiar - a cat reading a map. **

"Professor?" Harry asked. "Was that you?" Professor McGonagall merely smiled mysteriously.

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking**

**of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and**

**stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the**

**corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now**

**reading the sign that said Privet Drive - no, looking at the sign; cats**

**couldn't read maps or signs. Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and**

**put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of**

**nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something**

**else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help**

**noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people**

**about. People in cloaks. **

"Oh no. This is the day after isn't it?" Professor McGonagall whispered to Professor Dumbledore. He nodded his head gravely.

**Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in**

**funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this**

**was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering**

**wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite**

**close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was**

**enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man**

**had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak!**

"The nerve of him!" Fred and George yelled. The Great Hall started laughing, except for the adults who had a feeling they knew which day it was. Sirius yelped aloud, although whether it was

in humor or sadness Harry didn't know.

**The nerve of him! **

"Oh...my...goodness. You...think...like...Vernon." Harry laughed with tears streaming down his face. The look on their faces was absolutely priceless and soon even the adults were tearing up.

"Hem hem." The toad's cough shut everyone up. She ruined all the fun.

**But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some**

**silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something...**

**yes, that would be it. **

"That muggle's an idiot." Draco shouted, trying to bait Harry. Harry turned to face him deadly serious.

"As much as it pains me to agree with you Malfoy, you're right." Harry said, earning him many strange looks. He ignored them all and returned to petting Snuffles fur.

**The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. Mr. Dursley always sat **

**with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. **

"Muggles have their mail delivered by people called mailmen." Hermione said before anyone could ask. There were many sighs of understanding throughout the Hall.

**Mr. Dursley, however, had a perfectly**

**normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made**

**several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. **

"Pleasant bloke." Remus said darkly. He didn't like where this chapter was going.

**He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road**

"Professor Umbridge? Did you read that line right?" Harry asked incredulously. Stretch his legs? Walk?

"Of course I did Potter. Now be quiet before I give you detention!" She screeched and Harry turned white. Remus and Sirius both noticed this, and Sirius, as Snuffles, licked Harry's face. Harry smiled.

**to buy himself a bun from the bakery.**

"That makes sense." Harry smirked, quietly enough that only the Gryffindors nearest to him could hear. They all giggled quietly.

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of**

**them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't**

**know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering**

**excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on**

**his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he**

**caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"Only one doughnut?" Fred asked.

"He probably ate the others already." Harry answered.

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their son, Harry"**

Hermione and Harry had put it together now too. Harry's face had gone white and he clenched a bit of Snuffles' fur in his hands.

**Mr. Dursley stopped dead. **

"I wish." Harry said softly. Only Remus and Sirius could hear it, and it worried them greatly.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his**

**secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost**

**finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the**

**receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was**

**being stupid. Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were**

**lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think**

**of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry. He'd never even**

**seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold.**

"Lily would never have named you either of those names. Ever." Remus laughed at the horrified look on Harry's face.

"Harold Potter, savior of the Wizarding World." Fred joked.

"Nah, it doesn't sound right. Everyone knows his name is Harvey." George answered mock seriously.

"If either of you ever call me Harvey or Harold, I will prank you. Badly." Harry threatened. Both brothers looked at each other and gulped. Harry could be very scary when he wanted to. Both brothers offered him a mock salute.

Up at the teacher's table, Professor McGonagall's jaw dropped. He had just...she had been trying for seven years to control them and she had never succeeded. Ever.

**There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her - if he'd had a sister like that... **

"Like what exactly?" Professor McGonagall asked with her eyes narrowed. Lily and James had been two of her favorite students. Just then, two laughs and a bark filled the hall.

"Because your sister is someone to be proud of, Vernon." Harry and Remus choked out in between breaths. When Harry recovered, he looked at Remus strangely.

"Your father and mother, Sirius, Peter and I had the...misfortune to meet Marge. It was an interesting visit." Snuffles/Sirius barked. Many people were watching this interaction very confused. Others were thinking that he was totally insane as him and Remus continued to laugh. After they calmed down, Harry offered no explanation except for one.

"Third Book."

**but all the same, those people in cloaks...**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and**

**when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that**

**he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Ouch." Remus mumbled. He recalled something like that happening to Sirius. Poor guy could barely walk for two days.

**"Sorry," he grunted,**

"He knows that word?" Harry asked in amazement.

**as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy,happy day!"**

Everyone who hadn't previously realized what day it was began to sneak glances at Harry, who ignored them all. Snuffles started whining sadly.

"It's okay Siri. I'm right here, and I'm fine." Harry whispered softly.

**And the old man hugged Mr. Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete**

**stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that**

**was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping**

**he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he**

**didn't approve of imagination.**

"Didn't approve of...imagination?" Fred asked.

"Harry, how did you survive?" George questioned.

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw -**

**and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat he'd spotted that**

**morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the**

**same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Cough cough *McGonagall* cough cough." It was Remus this time who yelled out, much to the surprise of many students.

**"Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a**

**stern look. **

Everyone who had seen that look winced, especially the Weasley twins, Golden Trio, and Sirius, but none more so than Remus who was currently on the receiving end of one.

**Was this normal cat behavior? Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying**

**to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still**

**determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

"He's definitely not a Gryffindor huh?" Was the general comment throughout the Great Hall. No one liked the Dursley's very much.

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all**

**about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had**

**learned a new word ("Won't!"). Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When**

**Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to**

**catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's**

**owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally**

**hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been**

**hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since**

**sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly**

**changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin.**

**"Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going**

**to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, **

"Hey, that was my dad!" Tonks exclaimed.

**"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

"I think that might have been Dedalus Diggle with the shooting stars." Professor Sprout said.

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain?**

**Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place?**

**And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters...**

"Harry, people are already whispering about you." Fred stated. He got a glare in return that was worthy of McGonagall.

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was**

**no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat**

**nervously. "Er - Petunia, dear - you haven't heard from your sister**

**lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all,**

**they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"After a while, Lily did the same." It was surprisingly Amelia Bones who spoke this time.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting**

**stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."**

**"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you**

**know... her crowd."**

"HER CROWD?" Shouted the entire hall, causing Harry and Remus to wince and cover their ears.

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered**

**whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter." He decided he**

**didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son -**

**he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"No one did." Said the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite**

**agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed.**

**While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom**

**window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.**

**It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for**

**something.**

"I'm sure it will be explained." McGonagall sighed in answer to the questioning looks she was recieving.

**Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the**

**Potters? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of**

**- well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"He couldn't bear being compared to his amazing sister-in-law and her husband. They were too awesome for him." Remus said seriously, making Harry laugh and Snuffles bark.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr.**

**Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting**

**thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were**

**involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs.**

**Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about**

**them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get**

**mixed up in anything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over**

**- it couldn't affect them...**

**How very wrong he was.**

"Probably the only time I ever wished he had been right." Harry was in a pretty bad mood. Not only did he have to relive his life, but he also had to listen to talk about the Dursleys.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat**

**on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as**

**still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of**

**Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the**

**next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly**

**midnight before the cat moved at all.**

'That doesn't surprise me.' Dumbledore thought.

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so**

**suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the**

**ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall,**

**thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which**

**were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes,**

**a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots.**

**His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon**

**spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been**

**broken at least twice. **

"Who could that be Gred?" George asked.

"Hmm...that's a hard one Forge."

"Three guesses and the first two don't count." Harry added.

"Remus Lupin"

"Professor Snape"

"Professor Dumbledore!" All three boys shouted together, to much laughter in the Hall. Even the teachers were laughing.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Called it." The three boys said in a singsong voice.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a**

**street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. **

"I simply didn't care."

**He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to**

**realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat,**

**which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For**

**some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and**

**muttered, "I should have known."**

"I'm glad you found it amusing. And yes, you really should've known." McGonagall told him with a slight glare.

**He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a**

**silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and**

**clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He**

**clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times**

**he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights left on the whole street**

**were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat**

**watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed**

**Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening**

**down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his**

**cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down**

**on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he**

**spoke to it.**

**"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

There was a round of applause from the Gryffindor table as Professor McGonagall stood up and bowed.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling**

**at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly**

**the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was**

**wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight**

**bun. **

"Wow Professor. They described you perfectly." Said a small first year Gryffindor.

**She looked distinctly ruffled.**

"We've never been able to get McGonagall ruffled." Fred and George stated.

"Us either. Minnie's got the composure of a stone carving." Remus agreed, earning him another glare.

"We have." The Golden Trio said together.

"What?!" Remus asked.

"They have. And Mr. Lupin, how many times have I told you not to call me Minnie?" McGonagall asked. Not only did she hate it, but it reminded her of James. He had been trying to get Harry to call her Aunt Minnie before he died, and he had succeeded too.

"A lot. That doesn't mean that me, or any of my other friends listened." Remus answered with a cheeky grin.

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I 've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said**

**Professor McGonagall.**

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a**

**dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently.**

**"You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles**

**have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her**

**head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks**

**of owls... shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They**

**were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet**

**that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious**

**little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Eleven years? That was the thought in almost every students head.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no**

**reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on**

**the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes,**

**swapping rumors."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping**

**he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A**

**fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have**

**disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he**

**really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful**

**for. Would you care for a lemon drop?"**

"What?" Ron asked.

**"A what?"**

**"A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't**

**think this was the moment for lemon drops. **

"It wasn't." She told Dumbledore.

"I disagree. It is always the time for lemon drops."

"Hear hear!" Shouted Remus and the twins, who had become quite fond of the sweets in the time they had spent in Dumbledore's office. Sirius barked in agreement.

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him**

**by his name? All this 'You- Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I**

**have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name:**

**Voldemort." Professor McGonagall flinched, **

As did all in the hall except for the Order, Harry, and Hermione. "Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Harry quoted what Professor Dumbledore told him first year, as said

Professor smiled proudly.

**but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name.**

**"I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half**

**exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're**

**the only one You-Know- oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will**

**never have."**

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey**

**told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"TMI" Said the twins, covering their ears.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls**

**are nothing next to the rumors that are flying around. You know what**

**everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally**

**stopped him?"**

Harry tensed and tightened his grip on Snuffles.

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most**

**anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold, hard**

**wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed**

**Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. **

"That was a scary look." Dumbledore told her with a twinkle in his eyes.

**It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort**

**turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is**

**that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "**

All the teachers, Remus, Snuffles, and Harry and tears in their eyes. Harry buried his face in Snuffles' fur so that he didn't have to see the pitying looks the whole hall was sending him, excluding the DA and his Quidditch team, who knew how much he hated pity.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it...**

**Oh, Albus..."**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I**

**know..." he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all.**

**They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he**

**couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how,**

**but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's**

**power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone.**

"No...it's not. Not really." Harry said to many confused looks. "You'll see."

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's**

**done... all the people he's killed... he couldn't kill a little boy?**

**It's just astounding... of all the things to stop him... but how in the**

**name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"I have a feeling that wasn't the truth." Harry muttered to Ron and Hermione, who were sitting to the left of him. As he said this, he fingered the words written on the back of his hand: I must not tell lies.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her**

**eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a**

**golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch.**

**It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving**

**around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because**

**he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was**

**he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to**

**tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family**

**he has left now."**

**"You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried**

**Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four.**

**"Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't**

**find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw**

**him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets.**

**Harry Potter come and live here!"**

Please, keep fighting Professor." Harry nearly begged. She looked at him sadly. What had happened at the Dursleys that made him resent them so much? If they had hurt him...well, Dumbledore wouldn't know what hit him.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and**

**uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've**

**written them a letter."**

"A letter? You think this can be explained in a letter?" Remus yelled. Mrs. Weasley looked about ready to join him.

"No, he didn't think that." Harry said, studying his Headmaster's face. "He couldn't risk my aunt and uncle not agreeing to take me in.

"Dumbledore merely nodded in reply.

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on**

**the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a**

**letter? **

"You think like Minnie, Remus!" This twins yelled as Snuffles barked out a laugh. Harry cracked a smile. McGonagall was going to have them in detention forever.

"I am still your Professor you know."

"Not for long." The twins said with a glance at Umbridge. Harry had a feeling that they were planning something...

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a**

**legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day**

**in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child**

**in our world will know his name!"**

"Please, please tell me there is no Harry Potter Day." Harry asked in a disgusted tone. Stupid fame.

"Why would the Ministry allow a holiday to be named after an arrogant little liar?" Umbridge sneered.

"You do realize that these books will expose the truth, right? That Voldemort is back." Harry responded calmly.

"DETENTION!" Umbridge cried. "You back talked a teacher."

"But-"

"Do you want to make it two?" She asked evilly. Harry's face went white. He hated those detentions. And on top of occlumency with Snape? He glared at Umbridge with a look worthy of Snape, as did the rest of the DA.

"There's no holiday named after you, don't worry." Remus whispered in Harry's ear, but he, along with Sirius and McGonagall, was more concerned with Harry's reaction to his detention.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his**

**half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous**

**before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even**

**remember! CarA you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away**

**from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and**

**then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. **

"I didn't agree, but I figured Albus knew what was best." She said, sending said person an angry look. Harry sighed.

"Thank you for trying." Ron and Hermione exchanged looks. It seemed that the Dursleys were worse than they had previously thought.

**But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as**

**this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life." Said the Golden Trio and Remus.

"Just not my secrets." Continued Harry and Remus. Hagrid blushed.

**I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"Does anyone else think it's creepy that we're saying the same things the books are?" Hermione asked as everyone in the Hall raised their hands.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor**

**McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does**

**tend to - what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew**

**steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a**

**headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and**

**a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of**

**them.**

Snuffles walked away from Harry and began chasing his tail and barking at the mention of his old motorcycle.

**If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride**

**it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times**

**as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long**

**tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands**

**the size of trash can lids, and his feet in their leather boots were**

**like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle**

**of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did**

**you get that motorcycle?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing**

**carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to**

**me. I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right**

**before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was**

**flyin' over Bristol."**

"You always loved that bike." Remus reminisced.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of**

**blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a**

**tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously**

**shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

Harry flattened his hair, trying to cover up his scar. Snape was confused. He thought that Potter was just like his father, yet his father would have been showing off.

**"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

"Please?"

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself**

**above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well**

**- give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his**

**great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very**

**scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a**

**wounded dog.**

Snuffles let out a similar howl in reenactment, to much laughter.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and**

**burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead**

**- an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or**

**we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly**

**on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to**

**the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out**

**of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets, and then came back to**

**the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at**

**the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall**

**blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from**

**Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

"YOU LEFT HIM ON A DOORSTEP?" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

"In November? When Death Eaters were still at large?" Remus asked in an upset tone.

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying**

**here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his**

**bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself**

**onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose**

**into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore,**

**nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he**

**stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and**

**twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet**

**Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking**

**around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the**

**bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish**

**of his cloak, he was gone.**

"I'll need it." Harry said, looking at the ground. McGonagall, snuffles and Remus exchanged dark looks.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and**

**tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect**

**astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his**

**blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside**

**him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was**

**famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs.**

**Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk**

**bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and**

**pinched by his cousin Dudley... **

"That's terrible!" Angelina Johnson shouted.

**He couldn't know that at this very**

**moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up**

**their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy**

**who lived!"**

"Well Harry, on the bright side, a bunch of people think that you're a liar, so at least they're not raising their glasses to you anymore." Ron said tactlessly.

"Ronald! Do you have any tact at all?" Hermione scolded. "You think he likes being called a liar?"

"Well-" Ron started. They continued to argue, but Harry wasn't listening. He was thinking about how many detentions he was going to end up having to go through with Umbridge. They had only read the first chapter of the first book, and he already had one detention. At least he couldn't get detention for things that had already happened

"Silence!" Yelled Umbridge. The hall fell silent. All of the students, teachers, and adults were slightly afraid of her authority, even if they would never admit it. "Now, would someone else like to read,or should I?"

"I'll read." Dumbledore accepted. He didn't think he could bear anymore of Dolores' voice without getting a splitting migraine. "Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass."

Harry groaned, and then there was an earsplitting boom.


	3. Chapter Two: The Vanishing Glass

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Harry would have grown up with Sirius and Remus, not the Dursleys.

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the reviews. I decided a couple of things. First, I will respond to reviews in PMs, this way the chapter doesn't take longer. Secondly, I decided on a way to update. There WILL NOT be regular updates. I will not update the next chapter until the chapter after that is finished. So, chapter three will not be posted until chapter four is finished. Luckily, I'm on break this week and _should_ be able to get chapter four done, so chapter three will be posted. Also, reviews motivate me to write faster, so you know you want to hit the review button...you really do. Any questions/comments you don't want to leave in a review, PM me and I'll answer ASAP.

Now, enough rambling, here's the chapter.

Chapter Two:The Vanishing Glass

There were two people standing in the middle of the Great Hall. One had a remarkable resemblance to Harry, and the other had fiery red hair. Harry realized with a jolt that they must be his parents.

Dumbledore caught the note written on a small bit of parchment that was floating down from the ceiling. He looked at it before reading it aloud. "_Sorry guys. The spell to bring Mr. and Mrs. Potter into the future took a while to find and get to work. They will be remaining to hear the entire series with you, but their memories need to be wiped before they can return to the past, as some things must not be changed."_

Harry and Remus had their mouths wide open. Professor McGonagall looked like she had seen a ghost and Professor Snape had more emotion on his face than Harry had ever seen.

"Um not to be rude Professors, but why are we at Hogwarts?" Lily Potter asked politely. "I thought we were supposed to be in hiding."

"What's the date Mrs. Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked in his squeaky voice.

"October 30, 1981." She responded. There was silence throughout the hall, except for the strangled sob that Harry had just let out. "Why? What's wrong?"

"And where's Harry?" James asked. Snuffles started whining and Harry absentmindedly started petting his fur to calm him down.

"What's wrong is, in your time, you die tomorrow by V-Voldemort's hand." Professor McGonagall stuttered out the name. Lily and James paled.

"Where are we? Where's Harry? What's going to happen to Harry?" James asked. Lily was on the verge of freaking out.

"You're fourteen years into the future and-" Dumbledore started.

"I'm right here." Harry said as he found his voice. He stood up as Snuffles and Remus stood with him.

"Harry...and Moony. But why's Sirius in his dog form?" James asked confused. Harry's eyes widened as many people who didn't know Sirius was innocent whipped out their wands. Sirius turned back to his human form in his shock, and that was all the encouragement people needed.

"Protego!" Shouted Harry, but he wasn't the only one who had shouted. Remus, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron and Hermione also yelled as they all surrounded Sirius. All of the spells bounced off, but more kept coming.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Professor Dumbledore shouted. Everyone (excluding Umbridge) put their wands away and stopped firing spells off. Umbridge continued to fire off nonverbal, invisible spells. All of the people who had cast the shield charm, excluding Harry and Remus, dropped the shields and sat down.

"Mr. Black is innocent of the crimes he has been convicted of. I'm sure sufficient evidence will be found in the-" He looked to Harry, who held up three fingers. "Third book to prove his innocence, as the books do not lie.

"What'd you do Padfoot?" James laughed. The twins didn't miss the name that Sirius had been called and exchanged looks of shock.

"I accused of selling the two of you out to Voldemort and killing Pettigrew and 12 other muggles. Then I was thrown in Azkaban without a trial for twelve years until I broke out because Harry was in danger. For the last two and a half years, I've been on the run, seeing Harry when I can." Sirius said, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. Remus had dropped his shield and no one noticed that Umbridge was attacking Harry's shield ruthlessly. Harry wasn't sure if he or Sirius was the target, but he was tiring

quickly.

James was shocked. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were staring unblinkingly at Sirius. It was Lily who was able to keep her cool.

"But...how could you betray us? Wormtail's the secret keeper."

"Did anyone besides the four of us know that? Everyone thought it was me." Sirius said. People were beginning to believe his innocence. If all three Potters believed it, then why shouldn't they?

"So Peter betrayed us..." James said in shock.

"I went after him. He yelled that I betrayed the two of you, then he blew apart the street." Sirius continued.

"He cut off his finger and turned into a rat. Wormtail escaped through the gutter." Remus finished. "The rest will be explained later on."

"Your son nearly killed me. He thought I had betrayed you, but Moony convinced him to hear me out, right Harry?" He asked, turning to Harry. Harry was pale white and there were beads of sweat on his forehead. Keeping the shield up with the relentless attacks was exhausting. If it had been any other teacher, he would have said something already, but he really hated her detentions...

"Harry? What's wrong?" Sirius asked anxiously. Harry merely jerked his head in his DADA teacher's direction. Sirius didn't get it, but Remus did.

"Madam Umbridge, I would appreciate it if you stopped attacking my former student and my best friend." He said in a cool voice.

"I don't have to listen to you, you're a filthy half-breed." She sneered.

"DOLORES! THAT IS ENOUGH!" McGonagall screamed as Harry sent a stunning curse her way, as the nonverbal spells still hadn't stopped. McGonagall turned on him. "Potter!"

"I didn't do anything this time Professor." James said cheekily as Fudge revived Umbridge.

"Detention." Umbridge and McGonagall said at the same time, and then turned to glare at each other. Harry's jaw dropped.

"From both of you?" He asked incredulously as both teachers nodded. "Please, I was being attacked! Professor McGonagall, please. Can I do detention with one of you?"

"Potter, you will do your detention with Professor Umbridge. And 10 points from Gryffindor."

"But Professor-"

"That was the-"

"bravest thing he could do!" Fred and George protested as James, Sirius, and Remus laughed. Harry wasn't in a laughing mood. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. They knew what went on in that woman's detention, and if no one had found out by the end of the first book, they were going to tell everyone.

"Guys don't push Professor Umbridge. Just drop it." Harry warned the twins. He got many bemused looks, but McGonagall's eyes narrowed in Umbridge's direction. Something wasn't right here.

"Wait! What about baby Harry?!" Lily nearly shouted.

"I think that time is a tricky thing, but I believe that your time is frozen as well. He'll be just fine." Said Professor Dumbledore. "Now, shall we continue reading?" With many nods of assent, Lily and James sat

down and he began to read.

**Chapter 2:THE VANISHING GLASS**

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets**

"Where is that humor now?" Fred asked.

**- but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother.**

"Poor you, you had to look at pictures of that ape for ten YEARS!" George cried. "How are you still sane?"

**The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

There were growls from Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.**

"I'm so sorry about that. I remember when she used to wake me up." Lily shuddered.

**"Up! Get up! Now!" Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

**"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.**

"I know you have good hearing mate, but I didn't know it was that good." Ron joked as Harry's heart sank. He had been hoping that the cupboard wouldn't have been mentioned.

**He rolled onto his back and tried to remember****the dream** **he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Not a dream kiddo." Sirius said fondly as Harry smiled. Lily and James looked on in surprise. It seemed that Sirius...grew up.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"They made you cook?" Lily and Mrs. Weasley asked, horrified.

"How old?" Sirius asked.

"Seven I think." He mumbled. Sirius wrapped Harry in a quick, tight hug, which put a small smile on his face. Amelia Bones began taking notes, as she had a feeling that she would need them.

**Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"Nothing." Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Professor McGonagall snapped. They then looked at each other in shock as Dumbledore laughed.

**"Nothing, nothing..."**

"Weird." Fred and George said.

**Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and,after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on.**

Ron shuddered.

**Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

The Great Hall went absolutely silent. Harry put his head down on the table. He didn't care about what anyone thought except for his family: Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, Hermione and his parents. But he was very nervous about what their reaction was going to be.

**and that was where he slept.**

There was silence in the Great Hall for several more moments until it became too much for several people.

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!" Lily and Professor McGonagall shouted.

"YOU SAID HE WOULD BE SAFE THERE!" McGonagall yelled.

"HE WASN'T EVEN SUPPOSED TO GO TO MY SISTERS! I CAN KIND OF UNDERSTAND UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT YOU SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST CHECKED ON HIM!" James was trying to calm Lily down, but he was doing pretty poorly.

"Harry..." Hermione said.

"Harry, why didn't you tell us?" Sirius asked. He looked like his heart was breaking and there was also guilt on his face.

"I..." Harry trailed off. He couldn't describe it. There had been so many reasons that he hadn't said anything, Sirius' guilt being one of them. "It's not your fault Siri. I don't blame you. I know that if you could've been with me, you would've."

"I'm so sorry kiddo. I let my temper get the best of me, and in doing so, I ruined your childhood." Sirius told Harry, wrapping him in a hug.

"And I should've at least checked up on you, even if I couldn't have gotten custody of you." Remus said guiltily.

"Stop with the guilt! I don't blame either of you. I have you both now, and that's all that matters to me."

Harry told them firmly. Sirius enveloped Harry in a hug, much to the happiness of James and Lily, who had finally finished arguing with Dumbledore, with the promise it would be discussed more that night.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated**

**exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody.**

"I have a terrible feeling that's you, isn't it, Harry?" Remus asked quietly, getting a small nod as an answer.

**Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"Thank Merlin for minor miracles." Sirius said, as Harry and James smirked identically.

"Feeling parental Sirius?" They asked in unison, as Sirius stuck his tongue out at them.

"That's so...creepy." Ron shuddered.

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Nope. Your dad was scrawny and pathetic looking too." Remus smirked.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair,**

"Prongs." Sirius said, fake coughing. The twins looked like their suspicions had just been proven.

"Wait a minute-" George began.

"Are you guys-" Fred continued, eyes wide.

"The Marauders?" They finished together.

"Yups." James said. The twins looked like Christmas had come early. "I'm Prongs.

"Padfoot." Sirius pointed to himself.

"Moony." Remus said. The teachers face palmed. That was all they needed. A second generation of Marauders.

"We were taught by a Marauder." George said in wonder.

"Your dad and godfather are Marauders." Fred said to Harry in awe.

"But who-" George began to ask. Harry cut him off with a look.

'_Pettigrew.'_ He mouthed. The twins faces darkened slightly, before turning to the other three marauders.

"TEACH US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!"

"NO!" McGonagall screamed.

"Aww Minnie, why not?" The twins moaned.

"Stupid nickname." She muttered.

**and bright green eyes.**

"Mrs. Prongs." Remus coughed, only to be hit upside the head by said woman.

"Professor, is there any way that we could be more comfortable while we read?" She asked with a slight glare at Remus.

"Of course." Dumbledore said. With a wave of his wand, the tables and benches disappeared and everyone fell onto cushions on the floor. Harry and friends sat in a circle and seating was in this order: Sirius, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Remus, Tonks, Lily, then James (Who is seated next to Sirius.) Bill, Charlie, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat just outside the circle. Everyone else got adjusted, and the three Malfoys seemed particularly unhappy about this new arrangement.

(A/N-If your wondering why Harry isn't with his parents, it's because he's kind of still uncomfortable, seeing as he's never known them...but I promise there will be bonding later.)

**wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

Growls came from everyone in the circle, minus Harry.

**The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.**

"You liked the scar?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Of course he likes it. He's an attention seeking-" Remus subtly flicked his wand at Umbridge and she fell silent. Harry sent him a look of gratitude.

"I liked it because it was a connection to my parents." Harry muttered so that only the small circle could hear it.

**"In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask**

**questions." **

"CAR CRASH!" Sirius and McGonagall shrieked. Sirius was shaking. Harry placed a hand on his arm.

"Calm down. It's okay. I know the truth now." Harry said.

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the**

**Dursleys.**

"Potter, is that why you never ask questions in class?" McGonagall asked critically. Harry nodded his head. She glared at Dumbledore.

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. "Comb your hair!" he **

**barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

Harry's family, the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Professor McGonagall and the DA laughed.

"Not going to work." They all laughed. Harry looked at his Head of House.

"How did you know?" Harry asked her, confused. She didn't answer.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put **

**together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

"Sorry Harry, but it seems you've inherited...THE CURSE!" James said dramatically as his friends and old

teachers laughed.

"What?"

"Messy black hair."

"That explains so much."

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley **

**looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"Where is that sense of humor now Harry?" Sirius joked as Harry smirked.

"No!" The DA and quite a few teachers shouted. Sirius, Remus,Lily, and James all looked confused.

"Usually when Harry is sarcastic like this, he's not very happy." Ron elaborated.

"And an unhappy Harry is scary," Hermione added.

"Hey!" Harry protested.

"Harry, I think you could, scratch that, you did out-shout Sirius' mum. Add on the sarcastic comments, and you are scary. Even to an auror." Tonks agreed. James' jaw dropped. _Out shout Padfoot's mum? What in the world..._

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell. "Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Brat."

**"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present,**

"Isn't that the one..." Ron asked.

"Yeah." Harry said sheepishly as the twins roared with laughter. Many people looked very confused.

"Third book." Harry said.

**see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."**

**"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Did that happen often?" Tonks asked, wrinkling her nose. Harry shrugged and everyone who knew him well rolled their eyes.

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right''**

"You mean she actually allows that kind of behavior?" Molly gasped.

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty..."**

"He can't add? How did he ever get through school?" Cho asked.

"A combination of bribery and me doing his homework."

**"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"Disgusting."

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.**

"Is that bad?" Ginny asked Harry.

"Depends."

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

"In this case, it was good." He finished.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. **

"Before you berate me for not being nice, yes, I know she's a squib now but I didn't then. Not to mention I was eleven years old, got dumped there whenever anything fun happened, and these are my private thoughts." Harry said tiredly as he saw several women open their mouths to berate him. They all snapped their mouths shut.

**Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"I can see why you didn't like it." Ron snorted and Hermione hit his shoulder.

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. **

"She probably did think you planned it. Petunia isn't stupid, she knew you were a wizard and she didn't know how much control you had over your magic." Sirius said thoughtfully. The entire circle, as well as the teachers at the head table, stared at him in shock. "What?"

"I didn't know you were that insightful." James said, gobsmacked. Sirius slapped him in the back of the head.

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.**

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"Feeling's mutual." Harry snorted.

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"I know how that feels." Sirius muttered darkly so that only James and Harry could hear. Harry looked at him curiously.

"Later." Sirius murmured.

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

**"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"But Harry, that would mean that you actually have some amount of good luck," Hermione said, shocked. Harry snorted darkly.

"I'm not dead yet, am I? That means, to me at least, Lady Luck happens to like me." The fact that no one disagreed made his family very uneasy.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon. "And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

**"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "...**

**and leave him in the ****car****..."**

"What are you? A dog?" Ginny growled.

"Nope. That's Padfoot." Harry said very seriously, to much laughter.

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."**

"Yes, worry about the car." Hermione shook her head.

"It's okay Mione, I'm used to it." Harry told her as the circle became upset by the normal tone he used.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

No one commented, but everyone was thinking of how much of a brat he was.

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**"I... don't... want... him... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp- spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. **

The entire circle growled at the mention of a rat, as did, surprisingly, Professor McGonagall.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. **

"Charming boy." Charlie muttered to Bill, who nodded.

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley,**

"You're right mate-"

"That is terrible luck." The entire hall laughed, excluding Fudge, Umbridge, and Percy.

**on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. **

That sobered up everyone relatively quickly.

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"I swear Dursley, you better stop mistreating my pup." Sirius nearly growled.

"Pup?" Harry asked.

"Old habit." Sirius said blushing almost unnoticeably. "I know you're probably too old for it, but-"

"I like it." Harry said smiling softly. "I was just curious."

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard**

**from now until Christmas."**

"Did he really?" Hermione asked.

"I was at Hogwarts for Christmas."

"Would he have?" She rephrased. Harry shrugged. He was hoping these books had as few details as possible.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly.. But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

"Nice to know something hasn't changed." Harry mumbled low enough that he thought no one could hear. However Sirius did and frowned lightly.

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"Harry," Fred

"How many times," George

"Must we tell you," Ginny

"You must not tell lies." They finished in tandem with a glare at Umbridge, who didn't retaliate. Harry internally groaned as he realized that she was only going to be assigning him detentions, not anyone else. Of course, he realized bitterly, she didn't want to give detention to someone who might tell an adult.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." **

"I have a bad feeling about this." Sirius said softly to James, who nodded.

**Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses.**

All of the Gryffindors, Remus, Sirius, Lily and James growled.

**Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"That actually wasn't actually accidental magic. That was the Potter Curse." James said solemnly as the other two Marauders nodded.

"Someone has to fill me in on this curse later.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls) - The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Good." Sirius and James said stubbornly. Meanwhile, Amelia Bones had begun to write a list of the abuse Harry had suffered at home. She had a feeling it would come in handy.

**On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. **

"Did he apparate or fly?" Lily asked Dumbledore, intrigued.

"Hmm...it sounds like he apparated to me." Dumbledore answered after a moment's thought.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon**

**through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid- jump.**

"You were probably small enough." Sirius grumbled.

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. **

"Stop that Harry!" Hermione groaned.

"What?" Harry asked. "Being optimistic? Because I'm pretty sure every Gryffindor in the school has told me to, and I quote, 'cheer up and stop being so gloomy and pessimistic."

"I think she meant jinxing it." Ron said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh. Sorry, Mione."

**It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.**

"That's depressing." Bill said.

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

"Aww, Harry, he cares!" The twins shouted as Harry blushed.

**This morning, it was motorcycles.**

"Oy! What's wrong with motorcycles?!" Sirius yelled as the hall gave a light

chuckle. Most were still a little nervous around him.

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.**

**I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

The majority of the hall groaned, but Sirius turned to Harry. "You remember that?"

"There's not much about that night I don't remember, as much as I wish otherwise."

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"**

"Actually...they do." Sirius stated as I'd it was obvious.

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

"You must not tell lies." Ron said as Harry fixed him with a glare. Ron flinched slightly.

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"You get enough dangerous ideas on your own, you don't need any help." McGonagall said.

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. **

"It was pretty good."

**It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

"That's a mean thing to say about the gorilla Harry." Tonks joked.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. **

"How very Slytherin of you." Malfoy sneered. Several Gryffindors growled and the circle all turned to Harry to see how he reacted. Since they were expecting a fight, they were very disappointed.

"Thank you Malfoy." Harry smirked.

**They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker**

**glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"That was good too."

**Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to**

**last.**

"Pessimist much?" Sirius tried to joke with his godson before realizing that he was pallid and rigid. "Pup, are you okay?" He asked, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry didn't answer. It was the part where he spoke parseltongue. The ministry would know. His _family _would know.

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. **

"Oh, Harry," surprisingly Ginny said. She had figured it out. "Those who matter, don't care, and those who care, don't matter." Harry just looked at her with a skeptical look in his eye and Ginny realized he was worried about the ministry, Sirius, and his father. She just smiled. She knew everything would be okay...ish.

**It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts**

**of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon**

"Wow!" James exclaimed, not having caught on to his son's bad mood.

**'s car**

"Spoke too soon." Remus joked weakly, for he had noticed Harry's reaction too.

**and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. **

Harry flinched violently. Sirius put an arm around Harry but Harry moved away slightly. He didn't want to be close to his godfather when Sirius decided he hated him.

**He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"He's comparing himself to a caged snake." Lily sadly realized aloud.

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's. It winked.**

People stared at Harry, who flinched and looked at the ground.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

"Only you." Ron muttered and Hermione and Ginny both cuffed the back of his head.

**The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time.**

The Hall was silent and Umbridge was sitting on the edge of her seat.

**"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. **

**"It must be really annoying."**

Harry flinched again, as he continued to do every time he spoke to the snake.

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

**"Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

Dumbledore was barely stopping for breath. He just wanted to get this part over with; he knew it was hard for Harry.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**

**"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.**

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

'Impressive magic,' was the collective thought around the room, and the teachers vowed to talk to Harry later on. But still, no one spoke, and Harry was tenser than he had ever been.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."**

Harry's biggest flinch yet occurred as the snake spoke. Around him, the fourth through seventh years were shifting in their seats guiltily, remembering the fiasco from three years ago. The younger students were explaining to each other what was going on in hushed voices. Every so often, someone shot a look in Harry's direction. The worst part though, was the whispering between Umbridge, Fudge, and Percy. Harry wasn't paying attention to that though. He was looking at the floor, stubbornly avoiding the eyes of his family, especially his father and godfather.

"Harry..." Sirius began before trailing off as his godson looked up at him with unshed tears in his eyes.

"You hate me." Sirius' heart broke.

"Come here Pup." Sirius said and opened his arms for a hug. Harry accepted instantly and Sirius continued to console him. "This doesn't change anything."

"But you hate Slytherin. You hate anyone having to do with anything Dark. And that's what parseltongue is. A Dark ability." Harry mumbled into Sirius' shoulder.

"Do you remember what I told you over Christmas break?" At Harry's nod, Sirius continued. "Well it's like that. Besides, parseltongue is only considered Dark because people fear what they don't understand. It's a stereotype. Just like the one with werewolves. And even if it was a Dark ability, I'd love you anyways. You're more important to me than any old grudge against Slytherin and Dark stuff." Harry eased his way out of the hug, but left his head on his godfather's shoulder. Remus was smiling at them, and Harry felt it and looked at him.

"Harry, I'm a werewolf. I know how you feel, always preparing yourself for rejection. But we won't do that." Remus said understandingly. "Besides, I've known since before I met you."

"What? How?"

"As soon as the Welcoming Feast was over, a certain professor decided to fill me in on what she knew of your...adventures. That was one of the things she told me." Remus explained with a glance towards McGonagall.

"Mum? Dad? Are you..." Harry trailed off. Sirius nudged James with his face and gave a serious look.

"As Professor Dumbledore has always said, it is our choices that show who we really are, far more than our abilities." James said wisely with a nod towards his professor, while inwardly marveling at how close Sirius and Harry were and how much Sirius had grown up.

"Harry, of course it doesn't matter to us." Lily smiled.

"It's a part of who you are." Gred and Forge said. Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Called it." Ginny smirked. Harry let himself smile. The people who were his family accepted it. It didn't matter what anyone else thought.

"POTTER!" Umbridge shrieked.

"What?" Harry, James, and Lily responded, making most of the hall laugh. However, the laughs were silenced with the Minister's next words.

"Harry Potter, you are expelled from Hogwarts." His voice rang through the Hall, the echo mingling with the cries of outrage from the Gryffindors and the DA. After a few minutes of this, Harry shot red and gold firecrackers out of his wand to silence everyone.

"On what grounds Minister?" He stood up and asked in the deadly calm that came before the storm. His family began slowly moving away from him.

"Dark magic and endangerment of muggles."

"Firstly, I would like to remind you that before a child comes to Hogwarts, they can not be held accountable for their magic, nor can they be punished for it. You told me two years ago that people didn't get in trouble for accidental magic even if they do attend Hogwarts. Not to mention, I didn't perform any Dark magic, unless a vanishing spell is Dark, and if it is, you'll have to arrest this entire hall." People were amazed at the points Harry made, not to mention that his temper was still under control.

"You're a parseltongue!" Fudge shouted.

"Yes, and the translations of everything I said and the snake said were provided." Harry responded just as loudly.

"Show respect to the Minister!" Umbridge shrieked madly.

"Respect is earned, not given, Professor." Mouths were dropping open now.

"You evil little Death Eater." Gasps echoed throughout the hall.

"Excuse me?" Harry's eyes were blazing. "Did you just compare me to a Death Eater? A follower of the man who killed my parents? People who sit and laugh while others are being tortured?" Scenes from the graveyard flashed through his mind. "You can deny Voldemort is back, you can call me many things, and you do, but if you EVER-" People closest to him jumped, "compare me to a Death Eater again, you will regret it." His eyes flashed.

"Two detentions and 20 points from Gryffindor for being disrespectful." Umbridge smirked.

"Does that mean I'm not being expelled?" Harry countered.

"There are no legal grounds to expel Mr. Potter, Dolores, and you know that, as do you Cornelius." Amelia stated before Umbridge could open her mouth.

"That toad's given you four detentions already." Sirius fumed as Harry sat down. The rest of his family seemed to be in agreement.

"Don't say a word about it. It's just detention. At least I'm not expelled. Don't fight with her on it, it'll just make her worse." Harry muttered. "Can we go back to reading now?" He asked louder, as he settled his head on his godfather's shoulder.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock. "But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"It disappeared. Duh." James joked.

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you,Harry?"**

"Terrible luck, mate," Ron winced.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," **

"They starved you?" Harry's four 'parents' growled.

**before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

"You shouldn't have to." Lily sighed.

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. **

"Car crash?" Remus growled. "James and Lily could never have died in a car crash. They were too stubborn to die that way."

"Umm...thanks?" James asked.

**He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. **

"That's because you weren't in a car." Sirius pointed out as Harry rolled his eyes.

"I know that now."

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. **

"You remember that?" Lily asked, teary-eyed.

"I remember more now." Harry murmured softly, and Sirius ran his free hand through Harry's hair.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green**

**light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"Did you know anything about us?" James asked his son.

"No. I didn't even know your names."

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. **

Remus and Sirius both flinched. No matter how much Harry said he didn't blame them, they would always blame themselves.

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"It was frustrating."

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.  
**

"You have us now." Harry's family chorused. _(His family meaning the people in the circle) _


	4. Chapter Three: Letters From No One

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

A/N: Sorry about the wait! I went to the Harry Potter Exhibit in NYC Sunday, and now I'm a chapter behind in my writing. I wanted to update anyway, so here's the chapter. Read&Review.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry called out.

"Yes my boy?" He called back without looking Harry in the eyes. Harry noticed this and rolled his eyes. "What's the name of this chapter?"

"The Letters From No One," Dumbledore read.

"Hmm...I think Professor McGonagall should read this chapter." Harry said and then levitated the book from the headmaster's hands to his head of house. She looked down at the title and smiled.

**THE LETTERS FROM NO ONE**

"Hogwarts?" Remus asked and Harry winced slightly.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started **

"When's Dudley's birthday?" Sirius growled.

"Early June," Harry muttered.

"Oh Merlin Harry. I'm so sorry." Sirius's demeanor changed almost instantly.

"S'not your fault."

**and Dudley had already broken his new video camera, crashed his remote control airplane, and, first time out on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"Was Arabella okay?" McGonagall asked. Harry nodded his head.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm, and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. **

"That makes perfect sense," Hermione scoffed.

"Hey Potter, is that a fat joke?" Malfoy yelled across the room and Harry snickered.

"Well..."

**The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favorite sport: Harry Hunting.**

The Gryffindors all growled.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to**

"Hogwarts," coughed Fred and George.

**secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had been accepted at Uncle Vernon's old private school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to **

"Hogwarts," coughed the Marauders.

**Stonewall High, the local public school. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"Why?" asked Lily worriedly. Harry smirked in a very Slytherin way.

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

Growls echoed coming from the marauders, but Harry was still smirking.

**"No, thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick." **

"That's BRILLIANT!" The Marauders, Fred, and George laughed so hard that tears started rolling down their faces. The teachers were trying to look disapproving, but they weren't doing very well. If you looked closely, you could see that McGonagall's lips, jammed in a thin line, were tilted upwards slightly, and Snape's sneer was slightly less vindictive than usual.

**Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"He never did." Harry laughed.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats, and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"That's...that's..." Remus was at a loss for words. The students looked around confusedly.

"Chocoholic." Harry, Sirius, and James explained, in unison. The three of them looked at each other in shock and then started laughing again.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings' boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers, and flat straw hats called boaters. **

Snickers filled the hall.

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"That's horrible," Hermione stated as almost everyone glared at the book.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. **

"I almost feel bad for him," James joked.

"Don't." Harry said shortly as a dark look crossed his face. His family looked at him in surprise, as did Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. Professor Dumbledore just looked down. He was hoping Harry had just been a little neglected and nothing too serious. What they had heard already was bad enough.

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,**

"We will never call you Ickle anything EVER again!" The twins shouted

"But I thought it was funny," Harry pouted.

**he looked so handsome and grown-up. **

"Handsome? Grown up? Are you sure they're not talking about Harry?" Romilda Vane swooned. Harry blushed as his family tried to muffle their sniggers.

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

"Mr. Potter..." Madam Pomfrey asked. Harry and his family were laughing too hard to hear her. She finished her thought in a whisper to Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, how could he know enough about how broken ribs feel to be able to make a comparison? This was before he played Quidditch."

"I don't know." Professor McGonagall said faintly. They looked at the boy who was so happy with his true family, and wondered with horror what they would discover.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in gray water.**

Snape internally winced. This sounded a lot like his childhood, but at least he had his mother who loved him.

**"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"I guess that's why you're so curious, yet you don't like asking people for information. You're so used to having to figure things out for yourself." Sirius said almost absentmindedly. People stared at him in shock as Harry nodded.

"What?" Sirius asked, nonplussed.

"That's the second smart thing you've said this morning, Padfoot. You're losing your touch," Harry laughed.

"Dang it. My reputation is ruined." He moaned. Many people looked at the former convict curiously. He certainly wasn't what they expected.

**"Your new school uniform," she said.**

"But they were left money to provide for you." McGonagall said confusedly.

"Professor, I never saw a cent of it," Harry said honestly.

**Harry looked in the bowl again. "Oh," he said, "I didn't realize it had to be so wet."**

"She won't like that," Lily winced.

**"Don't be stupid," **

"He's not." Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Remus, Sirius, and Professor McGonagall snapped.

**snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dying some of Dudley's old things gray for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

"Doubt that," Sirius growled

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High - like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

Snape winced slightly, unnoticed by everyone.

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smelting stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table. They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat.**

**"Get the mail, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"WHAT?!" Fred shouted

**"Make Harry get it."**

**"Get the mail, Harry."**

"All is right again." George sighed.

"Maybe he does know my name..." Harry mused.

**"Make Dudley get it."**

"There's that Gryffindor bravery." Ron smirked

**"Poke him with your Smelting stick, Dudley."**

"He ENCOURAGED him!" Sirius jumped up, looking every bit the insane murderer everyone thought he was. Harry flinched slightly, which went unnoticed by all but Snape, and stood up next to Sirius.

"Siri, I'm okay, and I'm right here. Just calm down." Harry said calmly. Sirius took a deep breath and looked at Harry. There was a pleading look in Harry's eyes, begging Sirius to just let it go for now. Sirius just nodded and sat back down.

**Harry dodged the Smelting stick and went to get the mail. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was vacationing on the Isle of Wight,**

"Too bad she didn't drown." Harry muttered.

**a brown envelope that looked like a bill, and - a letter for Harry.**

"Why is that such a big deal?" A first year asked.

"You'll see."

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. **

At this, Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry and mouthed, 'Giant elastic band?'

"Shut up." Harry rolled his eyes.

**No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. **

"I'm pretty sure just about every kid who grew up in the Wizarding World wrote you a letter." Ron stated with a faint blush on his cheeks.

**Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives**

Sirius and Remus both winced.

"It's not your fault." Harry said exasperatedly.

"Yes it is." They muttered softly.

**- he didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**The Cupboard under the Stairs**

**4 Privet Drive**

**Little Whinging**

**Surrey**

"I think someone should start reading the letters before they're sent out." Sirius told McGonagall, who nodded.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

"It's a muggle thing." Hermione said.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, **

"GRYFFINDOR!" Gryffindor House yelled.

**an eagle,**

"RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaws shouted.

**a badger, **

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The House of Loyalty cheered.

**and a snake**

Silence. Three houses stared at the the fourth, whose members looked utterly bored.

**surrounding a large letter H.**

"HOGWARTS!" Yelled everyone except the Slytherins, Fudge, Percy, and Umbridge.

**"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"That-" James began.

"Was-" Remus continued.

"A JOKE!?" Sirius shouted. The three Marauders plus the Weasley twins all began to mock sob into their hands.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. **

"Harry.." Hermione groaned.

"I was eleven." Harry said defensively.

**He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down, and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"I know, I know. I should have opened it when he wasn't around."

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.**

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk. -."**

"It's a pity she got better." Harry tutted as the Marauders exchanged looks. They knew Marge wasn't the _best_ person, but...

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

"Ugh, stupid pig." Hermione groaned. Harry and Hagrid made eye contact and then burst into laughter.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

Cue the growls.

**"That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"Don't get Harry pissed, don't get Harry pisssed," The twins chanted.

**"Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon, shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went **

**from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. **

"Red light, green light, 123." A muggleborn Gryffindor sang. Anyone who lived in the muggle world began to laugh.

**And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the grayish white of old porridge.**

"I don't think I've eaten porridge since." Harry stated. "At least, not when I had the choice." He said softly. Remus, Sirius, Ron, and Hermione heard and exchanged looks.

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"Dramatic much?" Draco sneered.

**"Vernon! Oh my goodness - Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smelting stick.**

"Thank Merlin you don't act like that." McGonagall interrupted herself.

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly. want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."**

"Don't get Harry pissed, don't get Harry pissed." The twins chanted, with Ron, Hermione, and the Marauders joining in.

**"Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Don't get Harry pissed, don't get Harry pissed." All of Gryffindor was chanting now.

**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"Told you." The Gryffindors smirked, and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs couldn't help but notice how similar they looked to the Slytherins.

**"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"Because it belongs to you." Ginny said sarcastically.

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, **

Everyone turned to look at Harry, who was looking at the floor.

"I think we need to talk during lunch, okay Pup?" Sirius whispered in Harry's ear. Harry nodded and Sirius waved a hand for McGonagall to continue.

**slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"That's the better spot anyway." Sirius said trying to cheer up Harry. Harry looked up from the floor and smiled faintly at Sirius. He remembered the conversation that his aunt and uncle had and was hoping it wouldn't be in the books.

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address - how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"Maybe we should have been." Mad-eye growled.

**"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want -"**

"Like we would have listened." McGonagall snorted.

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

**"No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best... we won't do anything...**

"Not going to work." Said Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny in a singsong voice

**"But -"**

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

Silence. Utter and complete silence. Harry fidgeted uncomfortably as many people turned to stare at him.

"Harry..." Sirius began.

"Please Siri, I don't want to talk about it now, later, okay? When we're in private."

"Fine. But we will talk about this." Sirius said. "You can keep reading Minnie." McGonagall didn't even have the heart to yell at him.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"He fit?" The twins joked weakly.

"Just his head." Harry answered.

**"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

**"No one. it was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

Amelia added Destruction of Property to the list in front of her.

**"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily, "it had my cupboard on it."**

Everyone, even the Slytherins, were upset that Harry had considered the cupboard his.

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"Good," Lily and the Marauders snarled.

**"Er - yes, Harry - about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking... you're really getting a bit big for it... **

"He never should have been there in the first place." Ginny and Hermione spat venomously.

**we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom.**

"Second bedroom." Remus said disbelievingly.

**"Why?" said Harry.**

"Why question it?" Angelina asked.

"They never did anything nice for me unless it was a trap. I was being cautious."

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept, and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. **

"Spoiled brat." McGonagall and Lily growled.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. **

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look and agreed that Harry was going to be spoiled rotten on his birthday.

**He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old video camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over the next door neighbor's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favorite program had been canceled; there was a large birdcage, which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. **

"He's that big?" Justin Finch-Fletchy asked.

"Yes." answered anyone who'd ever seen him.

**Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"They were good books too." Harry mused.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother, I don't**

**want him in there... I need that room... make him get out..." Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

'That's really depressing.' Was the thought of nearly everyone in the room.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smelting stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother, and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof, and he still didn't have his room back.**

"Good." Said Professor Sprout.

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the mail arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. **

"Nah, he just didn't want me near my letter."

**They heard him banging things with his Smelting stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! 'Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive -'"**

"Potter, if he wanted to read the letter, why would he announce it to his parents.?" Draco asked curiously.

"He's even stupider than his father." Harry answered.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. **

"Practicing already Harry?" Ron asked and the Golden Trio laughed. In response to the confused looks, the three of them answered, in unison:

"You'll see."

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"Darn," Sighed the Hall.

**"Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry. "Dudley - go - just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again? And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"NO!" Shouted the DA and the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"Harry has the worst plans." Hermione said. "He's better at thinking on his feet once the plan's been ruined. He's also usually in charge."

"Hermione's the planner and researcher." Ron agreed.

"And Ron's the strategist and comic relief." Harry added.

"It works." The three of them said together.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights. He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. **

"If you had a normal person's luck, that would have worked." Hermione sighed.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall toward the front door -Harry leapt into the air; he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive!**

"Your uncle's face?!" The twins shouted.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realized that the big, squashy something had been his uncle's face. **

"YES!"

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. **

"You're nothing if not predictable." Sirius said fondly and ruffled Harry's hair.

"Yes, and one day it's going to get someone killed." Snape sighed inaudibly.

**He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen and by the time he got back, the mail had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

**I want -" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

"Poor Harry." Dumbledore sighed softly.

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the mail slot.**

**"See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."**

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"One of them has common sense?" James asked, surprised.

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruitcake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Thank Merlin for that at least." Mr. Weasley smiled.

**On Friday, no less than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the mail slot they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides, and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs bathroom.**

Everyone looked at McGonagall surprised.

"What? I had to get creative, so I used my own owl, Athena."

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He's worse than Mad-Eye." Tonks said, surprised. Mad-Eye glared at her.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. **

"You mean it wasn't already?" Lily asked her son, who shrugged.

**Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living room window. **

"That was really funny. For all they care about normalcy, they looked pretty abnormal that week." Harry laughed at the irony of it all.

**While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food processor.**

"Petunia knew that the post office and dairy would have had nothing to do with it." Lily rolled her eyes.

**"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"No one-" James

"really," Fred

"just the-" Sirius

"entire-" George

"Wizarding World." Remus

Everyone started to laugh, and it was a long time before they could start reading again.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy. "No post on Sundays," **

"Muggles give the people who deliver the post a day off." Harry called out before anyone could ask.

**he reminded them cheerfully as he spread marmalade on his newspapers,**

"Wow. Petunia sure can pick em." Lily said trying to smother her laughter.

**"no damn letters today -"**

"Jinxed it." Harry laughed.

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one.**

"Best-" Alicia.

"seeker-" Katie.

"ever." Angelina.

"You play?" James said excitedly.

"I used to." Harry said with a glare towards Umbridge, who was smirking triumphantly.

**"Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"Get your filthy hands off him." Sirius snarled.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his mustache at the same time. I want you all back here in five minutes ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his mustache missing that no one dared argue. **

"You wouldn't think so, but he really did."

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding toward the highway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, VCR, and computer in his sports bag.**

"Good." Hermione said.

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turn and drive in the opposite direction for a while. "Shake'em off... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"He's mental." Ron shook his head.

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programs he'd wanted to see, and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Poor you." The female adults in the room snapped, excluding Umbridge.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the windowsill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

"You still do that." Ron said. "Especially third year and this year."

"I've had a lot to think about. Too much to be able to sleep."

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day. **

"That's not a meal!" Ron was horrified.

**They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

**"'Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

"Really Minerva?" Dumbledore said, amused.

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**Mr. H. Potter**

**Room 17**

**Railview Hotel**

**Cokeworth**

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"Don't just stare, do something." Mrs. Weasley huffed.

**"I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining room.**

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car, and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a plowed field, halfway across a suspension bridge, and at the top of a multilevel parking garage.**

"

He's lost his marbles." James stated.

"Dear, you can't lose what you never had." Lily smiled.

"Is that why Sirius never lost his sanity in Azkaban? He was never sane in the first place?" Harry asked innocently. The entire circle burst out laughing, as did the teachers who had taught Sirius.

"You little brat." Sirius sputtered. "I'll have you know I am, and always have been, perfectly sane."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Padfoot." Harry smiled angelically.

**"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car, and disappeared.**

"If Dudley noticed, you know it's bad."

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley sniveled.**

The Marauders, Lily, and Snape all flinched.

**"It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television. "**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday - and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days the week, because of television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. **

"If you start singing happy birthday, you will regret it." Harry said as the Marauders and the twins opened their mouths to sing. They snapped their mouths shut.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun - last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"Where did that optimism go?" Ron asked and Harry decided not to answer.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"If that's what I think it is..." Lily trailed off.

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out at sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. **

"That doesn't sound safe." Hermione tutted.

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

"That's..."

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowboat bobbing in the iron-gray water below them.**

"A rowboat? In a storm?" Remus growled.

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

"Toot toot." Bill whispered to Charlie.

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding,**

**led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

"Charming." Snape sneered.

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a bag of chips each and four bananas. **

"You need more than that to eat."

**He tried to start a fire but the empty chip bags just smoked and shriveled up. "Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

"That's terrible to bait you like that. Even my parents weren't that cruel." Sirius sighed and ran a hand through Harry's hair.

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver mail. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

"There's that pessimism." Ginny said mock cheerfully.

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few moldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door, and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

The Marauders growled.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. **

"I'm sorry Harry." Sirius said.

**Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. **

"Yay!"

**He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter writer was now.**

"Funnily enough, I was wondering where you were and when you would have your letter delivered." McGonagall said with a wink.

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. **

"You really are a pessimist." James said slightly awed.

"I thought we already established this." Harry drawled in a tone similar to Malfoy.

**Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow. **

"That's not a bad idea." Hermione mused.

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

Cue the eye rolls.

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds... twenty ... ten...nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him - **

"Do it, do it, do it!" The Gryffindors chanted.

**three... two...one...**

**BOOM.**

Everyone jumped, seeing as McGonagall had shouted the last word.

"We corrupted you!" The Marauders shouted triumphantly as McGonagall smiled innocently.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"That's the end of the chapter." McGonagall said, still smirking at some of the glares she was receiving.

"One more chapter, and then we'll eat." Dumbledore announced.

"Hagrid, would you mind reading the next chapter?" Harry asked.

"O' course not 'Arry" Hagrid smiled a knowing smile.


	5. Chapter Four: The Keeper of Keys

**A/N: WOW! Thanks for the reviews. So, I decided the heck with the way I was going to update and now I'll just be posting as I finish the chapters. On the other hand, I have some ideas on my profile for some new stories, so please check it out and give me some feedback. Please PLEASE Read&Review :)**

**Chapter Four, The Keeper of the Keys**

**BOOM. **

Everyone jumped.

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake. "Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"Can he say it any other way?" Fred asked.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands - now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"That's...that's despicable." Lily fumed.

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!"**

"Aren't we all?" George mocked.

**There was a pause. Then -**

**SMASH!**

"Hagrid, must you shout?" McGonagall asked deviously as Hagrid shouted again. The Marauders began snickering as most of the Great Hall glared at her.

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

"It was kinda scary, but also kind of cool."

**A giant of a man was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Harry, that makes Hagrid sound scary." Hermione scoffed.

"I'm sorry, but that's what I thought, okay?" Harry said, slightly defensive.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door, and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey..."**

"Only Hagrid," The Marauders, twins, and Golden Trio sighed amusedly.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"I wished I had a camera."

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

Sniggers echoed throughout the Hall.

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile. **

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yet dad, but yeh've got yet mom's eyes."**

"That was the first time I ever heard that," Harry said fondly as he looked at his parents with a small smile.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

**I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"Deal with it," The Marauders growled.

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant; he reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

Laughs echoed throughout the room, but Lily and Hermione both mouthed 'thank you' to Hagrid.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"Or a rat," Harry commented slyly.

"Now THAT is an idea," James said with a look that was identical to Harry's.

**"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.**

"My first birthday cake," Harry said with a slight melancholy tone.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Just as bad as your father," Lily rolled her eyes.

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

"This isn't going to go well, is it?" Katie asked as her, Angelina and Alicia shifted a little closer to the circle.

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

There was a slight, collective wince from anyone who had ever had that happen to them.

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"HAGRID!" Shouted McGonagall, Pomfrey, Mrs. Weasley, Lily, and Hermione. Said half-giant looked sheepish.

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shriveled chip bags in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there. It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"He's not allowed to use magic, and that obviously shows that he has a way of doing it." Umbridge smirked.

"He was cleared of all charges when it was discovered that he was wrongly accused by Voldemort!" Harry shouted back.

"Detention Mr. Potter."

"For _what_?!" Harry asked exasperatedly.

"Not respecting your elders."

"But-"

"Do you want to make it two?" She asked deviously. Harry fixed her with a glare that would have made Death Eaters shrink back in fear,

and she flinched slightly.

"No _professor,_" He spat.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs, **

"Got a lot of pockets?" Ginny asked sarcastically.

**and a bottle of some amber liquid that he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"It was only butterbeer, I swear." Harry piped up before any females could berate Hagrid. "I recognized it the first time I had it."

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"He doesn't need any more fatty foods." Pomfrey scoffed.

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

Everyone turned to look at Hagrid who was always cheerful. Sirius' face paled.

"They were that bad? You could tell that easily?" Sirius sighed. Hagrid merely nodded slightly and Sirius gripped Harry closer to him. Harry rolled his eyes, but it was mainly just for show. It felt nice to be held like a child by a 'parent.'

**"Yet great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' anymore, Dursley, don' worry."**

"So true." Tonks muttered.

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"Wait, you mean you actually have manners?" Hermione gasped.

"Hey! I'm insulted. I mean, I think I've done pretty well considering-" Harry cut himself off.

"Considering what, Harry?" Remus asked gently.

"Later." He muttered.

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

The women just sighed. _Men. _

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.**

**"Er - no," said Harry.**

"Uh oh." Said almost all of the past and present Gryffindors.

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

**"Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"Stop apologizing for everything, mate." Ron sighed.

"It's usually safer just to apologize when something goes wrong around me because I always get blamed. A cauldron blows up in potions, my fault. The Chamber of Secrets opens, my fault. Cedric gets killed, my fault. Voldemort is back, my fault. Umbridge is at Hogwarts, my fault. Everything is always my bloody fault." Harry wasn't exactly screaming, but he was loud enough that the entire Hall could hear. Many people looked down, ashamed, that they had indeed used Harry as a scapegoat. Sirius rubbed circles soothingly on Harry's back.

"None of that is your fault Pup. Well, except maybe the occasional cauldron, but besides that, none of it was your fault Harry." Harry just nodded, not sure if he really believed it.

**"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It' s them as should be sorry! I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yet parents learned it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

'Poor Harry,' was the general thought in the room.

**"ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!" He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut.**

"Thinking about it now, he basically filled the whole hut before he got angry." Harry smiled.

**The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy -this boy! - knows nothin' abou' - about ANYTHING?"**

"Oh Hagrid, knowing Harry, he'll think you think he's stupid." Ginny shook her head.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"Could be better if you tried though," Ron smirked as he whispered to Harry. Harry just smiled and the interaction went unnoticed besides for the few kids who were in the know.

**"I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do math and stuff." **

"Watch out," Fred

"Harry can do-" George

"Math and Stuff." They finished together as Harry rolled his eyes.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."**

**"What world?"**

Growls echoed through the Hall. Even the Snakes were revolted that Har-Potter's heritage had been kept from him.

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

"Really Hagrid? You have to yell?" James asked jokingly.

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble." **

The Eagles and Hermione just mouthed 'Mimblewimble' in shock.

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

**"But yeh must know about yet mom and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."**

**"What? My - my mom and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"We're famous?" James asked. Remus nodded his head. "Cool. Although I think I would rather have lived.

"Harry, you completely ignored the fact that you were famous." Sirius said.

"Well, I had already figured that me being famous had to be of something you did, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Besides, I hate all the fame and people looking at me."

Snape winced. He had always told the boy he was attention seeking.

**"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

**"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

"Scarhead." Malfoy sneered.

"Ferret." Harry responded.

"Potty."

"Daddy's boy."

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" Malfoy asked.

"When my father hears about this..." Harry smirked as Narcissa glared lightly at her son.

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"That's a pity." James said.

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sit! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"No one forbids Hagrid from doing anything." Fred gaped.

"That's because it's generally a bad idea and no one with an ounce of common sense would try it." Harry said seriously.

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

Cue the flinches throughout the Hall.

**"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

Harry picked up on something he hadn't realized the first time. "They were supposed to tell me?"

Dumbledore only nodded sadly.

**"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"I'm glad I found out."

**"STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

**"Ah, go boil yet heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid. "Harry - yer a wizard."**

"Only Hagrid." The Gryffindors laughed.

"It was rather blunt." Harry agreed.

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind**

**could be heard.**

**"- a what?" gasped Harry.**

All the muggleborns whispered about their similar reactions.

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? **

"Thanks Hagrid." Lily and James blushed. Well, at least Lily did.

**An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Finally! Fred and George shouted."

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. **

"Could they be much more specific?" Daphne Greengrass muttered to her sister.

**He pulled out the letter and read:**

"You can READ?!" Hermione shouted in shock. Harry just rolled his eyes, which he seemed to be doing a lot of.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme**

**Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts**

**School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all**

**necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall,**

**Deputy Headmistress**

"Have you changed those letters at all since we've left school?" Remus asked amusedly. That amusement increased greatly when he saw McGonagall and Dumbledore both avoiding his question.

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"THAT was the first question you ask?" Many people in the hall shouted.

"Well, you know how I said it was my birthday?" There were nods of affirmation. "Well, my birthday is July 31st, so it was the date in the

letter."

"OHHHHH."

**"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment.**

**With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note that Harry could read upside down:**

"You can read Hagrid's handwriting upside down?" James asked in shock. Harry nodded. Sirius and Remus began to laugh. "But... that's impossible." The circle, most of Gryffindor House, and most teachers were now laughing too. "What? What'd I say?"

"The word 'impossible' and your son's name do not belong in the same sentence." Sirius snorted as Harry mock glared.

**Dear Professor Dumbledore,**

**Given Harry his letter.**

**Taking him to buy his things tomorrow.**

**Weather's horrible. Hope you're Well.**

**Hagrid**

More snorts at Hagrid's bluntness.

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door, and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"For us, it is." Alicia said simply.

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"Good idea, you wouldn't want to swallow any nargles."

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

Groans filled the Hall.

**"He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

**"I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

**"A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"You were so _naive_, Harry." Ron snorted. Lily and James began to wonder what exactly had happened to their son at Hogwarts because there were no traces of naivety on his face anymore.

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid, "it's what we call nonmagic folk like thern. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Literally and figuratively," Hermione muttered.

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard indeed!"**

Hagrid seemed to start to stutter at this part, and Harry remembered what was coming up.

"Hagrid? Do you want me to read this part?" Harry asked sadly. Hagrid nodded and blew his nose. Harry knew how hard it was for the half giant to speak badly about the people he cared about, so Harry

levitated the book over to where he was sitting and took a deep breath. Sirius seemed to notice this, and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I know this will upset many of you as much as it hurts me, if not more, since many of you knew them well, but please don't interrupt me." He said to all of the adults in the Great Hall.

**"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard?"**

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was? Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that-that school-and came home every vacation with her pockets full of frog spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. **(As did Harry) **It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

There were tears running down the faces of many occupants of the Hall.

**"Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as - as - abnormal - and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

Harry stopped, knowing he couldn't continue any more, and levitated back to Hagrid.

"That's how you found out?" Sirius whispered sadly. Harry just nodded and Sirius embraced him.

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill **

**Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!" **

"Unfortunately." Harry rolled his eyes.

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

"And I wanted to know because...?" Harry asked rhetorically.

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious. "I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, **

"YOU KNEW? YOU KNEW THERE _MIGHT _BE TROUBLE? THEN WHY IN MERLIN'S NAME WAS HE THERE?" Sirius yelled.

"SIRIUS!" Harry shouted. "There are going to be a lot of things in this book that you won't like, either that Professor Dumbledore, another teacher, or even me and my friends did. So while it's nice to have an adult upset for me for once, please calm down." No one had noticed his slight flinch when Sirius started yelling.

"Are these books going to make me go gray?" Sirius asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yep. I can already see one, right _there_." Harry said with a straight face, deciding to go along with the tension reliever.

"WHAT?" Sirius shouted, not realizing Harry was joking. He made a mirror appear and looked into it, carefully examining his reflection.

"Brat." He pouted as Harry laughed along with Remus, James, Lily, the twins, and McGonagall, who thought it was refreshing to see one of her most troublesome students put in his place. By his own godson, no less.

"I learned from the best." Harry said and Sirius got a proud look on his face. "Remus and the Weasley twins."

As Sirius sputtered, Hagrid decided it was a good idea to keep reading.

**how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"Can you imagine that?" Ron asked.

"That would have been horrible, especially because you were the first person I met." Harry agreed.

"Yeah...wait, what?"

"As Hermione so wisely said, 'You have the emotional range of a teaspoon, Ronald.' Can you imagine if you had been the one to explain to me why I was famous?"

Everyone who knew Ron Weasley groaned.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"Want'd ta do more'n tha'" Hagrid interrupted himself. _(A/N: Sorry, I can't do Hagrid's accent to save my life.)_

**"Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it..."**

"Not much of it is anymore." Harry said and Sirius ran a hand through his hair, while James and Lily looked on in confusion. He couldn't remember that night...could he?

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds, and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"**

**"Who? "**

**"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"Bet you can't get him to say it." James said with a smirk on his face.

"Hmm...how much?" Harry smirked identically. It was almost like they were the same person, except for the eyes and clothes.

"A galleon."

"I'll take that bet."

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went... bad. As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was..."**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"Told ya" James smiled and held out his hand. Harry just smirked and shook his head.

**"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

**"Nah -can't spell it. All right - Voldemort. " **

"And that, is why you never bet against anyone who already knows the outcome." Harry held out his hand and James dug in his pockets for a galleon before turning to Lily with a sheepish expression.

"Dear, would you happen to have a galleon with you?"

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches... terrible**

**things happened. **

"You could say that again." Sirius said sadly, looking at his best friend and brother.

"Padfoot, I know I'm dead, but at least now you'll have some memories with us to partially make up for Azkaban."

"Yeah. You're right. And Harry will have some good memories of you."

"What do you mean _good_?" James asked as Harry motioned to Hagrid to keep reading. Snape was shocked. Harr-_Potter_ wasn't _proud _of what his father did in that memory?

**He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him -an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"Thank heavens." McGonagall said as the female teachers nodded in agreement. (Umbridge doesn't count, because I'm not sure if she's actually human so...)

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. **

"Thank you."

**Head boy an' girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before...**

"He did, asked both of us twice. That was the first two times we defied him. The third he tried to kill us." Lily explained.

**probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"Not to mention we have a little bit of a clash in ideals." James rolled his eyes.

**"Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. **

"But that's not why." Lily whispered to James and they both looked at Harry, who looked like he didn't see anything wrong with what the book was saying.

"If the books don't tell him, we will." James whispered back.

**You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' - an' -"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

**"Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find - anyway..."**

"I can think of a few..." Sirius joked. "At least in James' case."

**"You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a Powerful, evil curse touches yeh - took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. **

"But it wasn't even me!" Harry exclaimed. Many people looked at him confusedly. "It'll be explained in the books."

**No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts - an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

"To those who died in the First War." Harry said solemnly, lighting the tip of his wand with a whispered lumos before raising it in the air. The rest of the people in the hall followed his example, even the Toad. After several moments of silence and tears, Harry motioned to Hagrid to continue reading.

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before - and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life: a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

Harry shuddered as Sirius rubbed his back soothingly.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly. "Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot..."**

Growls echoed, three of the most distinct coming from Remus, James, and Sirius.

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. **

"He never had any." Ron muttered.

**He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"That's not bravery." Hermione scoffed.

**"Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled, "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured - **

Harry found himself being scrutinized by his family.

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion -**

"They're better people than you ever were." Harry growled.

**asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end -" **

"He's a bast-" Sirius was interrupted by Mrs. Weasley.

"Language, Sirius." Harry snorted and Sirius messed up his hair in retaliation.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley -I'm warning you - one more word... "**

"GO HAGRID!" Shouted all Gryffindors, past and present.

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"GOOD!"

**"That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

The Slytherins sniggered at this until they received glares from the Gryffindors.

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them. "But what happened to Vol-, sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"You mean, there was actually a time where you DIDN'T say the name!" Ron joked.

"Of course there was." Harry rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately." He added as an afterthought.

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see...he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go?**

"I guess Professor Dumbledore didn't share the reason with Hagrid." Harry whispered to the other 2/3 of the Golden Trio.

**"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon theycould've done if he was comin' back.**

"Or they were never in trances in the first place." Ginny suggested innocently, yet loudly enough that the whole hall heard. If anyone had been watching Malfoy Sr., they would have noticed his face pale.

**"Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on.**

"Not anymore." The Weasley twins said in a sing-song voice.

**'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"It-wasn't-me." Harry said as he slammed his head into Sirius' shoulder with each word.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. **

"You would." Tonks said sadly.

**A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley, and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? **

"I wish it worked like that." Sirius muttered.

**If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

Hermione reached around Ron and started hitting Harry with her book. "You-and-your-bloody-low-self-esteem."

"You know you love me." Harry smiled.

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. "Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared or angry?"**

"YES!" Shouted the Order of the Phoenix, most teachers, and Gryffindor House.

Harry looked like he was about to protest, but changed his mind and just shook his head.

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it... every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry... **

"Of course." Snape sneered with a little less venom than usual.

**chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach... dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back... and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"The LIAR is a hateful creature driven only by REVENGE!" Umbridge shouted. Harry had to work very hard not to rise to the taunt, but it seemed he didn't have to. The entire circle got up and started screaming at her. It was only when Sirius, Remus, Lily and James started to draw their wands that Harry stepped in.

"STOP IT!" He shouted with a power that almost no one knew he possessed. "She's not worth getting in trouble over."

"But Harry-" James protested.

"But nothing...Dad." Harry said slightly hesitant. His father's face lit up. "She isn't worth it. Just ignore her."

"Detention Mr. Potter, for suggesting ignoring a teacher." Umbridge said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Fine Professor," He said with a mocking tone that was so subtle, most thought they imagined it.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

**"See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Yay." Harry said sarcastically.

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"Of course not." Remus sighed.

**"Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters **

**and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and -"**

"My wand is not rubbish." Harry said indignantly.

**"If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter' s son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad.**

"Yes. Yes he is." Charlie murmured.

**His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had Albus Dumbled-"**

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL To TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

Silence.

"He really is a moron." Sirius said in awe, breaking the silence.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head, "NEVER," he thundered, "- INSULT- ALBUS- DUMBLEDORE-IN-FRONT- OF- ME!"**

"This should be be fun." The twins said, rubbing their hands together evilly.

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley- there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal, and the next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with**

**his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The twins, Marauders, and anyone who had ever met Dudley started laughing.

"Dolores, before you say anything, he was innocent." McGonagall said frostily.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

"Good riddance." Lily stated.

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"WE CORRUPTED YOU!" The Marauders shouted.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows. "Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff- one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"Harry!" Lily scolded.

"Mum, you do know this happened over four years ago, right?"

**"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

**"Why were you expelled?"**

"You won't find out." James said confidently.

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, seemingly amused.

"No way! We tried for years!"

"Prongs, mate, your son has done things we never could have succeeded in." Remus said proudly. Harry just blushed a little.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that." He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

**"You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"It's time for a spot of lunch, I think." Dumbledore said as he waved his hand to make buffet tables appear. However, Sirius didn't move to get any, nor did Remus.

"Harry, I think it's time we have a talk" Sirius said, taking a deep breath. Harry nodded and walked out of the room, Remus and Sirius following behind, all three oblivious to the worried looks from Lily, James, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.


	6. Chapter Five: Diagon Alley

**A/N: **Wow, I can't believe how long its been since I updated and I'm so sorry. My only excuse is writers block, which leads me to what I did with this chapter. I know I promised that this would be the conversation about abuse, but I had so much trouble with that chapter, I decided it will either be a one-shot or a flashback when I can finish it. So, read and review please, and I'll try and have the next chapter up soon.

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Harry Potter, Severus Snape would have been a lot nicer to Harry.

Harry, Remus, and Sirius all walked into the Great Hall with small smiles on their faces and sat down where they had been sitting before. Everyone stared at them, but all three of them expertly ignored it. Having eaten before re-entering the room, Sirius said, "We can read the book now."

When no one made any moves towards the book after close to a minute, Remus spoke.

"We might as well get on with the book." He said calmly. The occupants of the Great Hall just continued to stare. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we can move on with our lives." Still, no one went to pick up the book.

"Stop staring, its not like you've never seen us before. Now, the next chapter is," here Harry paused and consulted the book, "Diagon Alley and Draco is going to read." He then floated the book over to Draco, who blanched and picked it up. Most of the Hall began to snap out of it.

"Nosey, mindless, moronic people." Harry grumbled to Sirius, who snickered softly as Draco began to read.

**Diagon Alley**

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

**"It was a dream, he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"That's depressing," Susan whispered to Hannah over at the Hufflepuff table.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door, Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulder and Harry leaned into the touch.

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

**"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa, and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

"This has the potential to be very interesting." James said deviously and Lily slapped his shoulder.

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered onto the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

People sniggered.

**"Don't do that."**

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"Daily Prophet owls are ruthless." Harry said innocently. "And so are their reporters. Is it a job requirement?" The Order sniggered lightly as did most of the DA.

"Deten-"

"Excellent question, Mr. Potter. I will be looking into it." Professor McGonagall said in her most professional voice, but all who knew her saw the spark of mischief in her eyes. Umbridge slouched back. She knew she could never wn against McGonagall on this one.

**"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

"That wasn't much help." Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, who smiled.

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets - bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, peppermint humbugs, teabags... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

**"Knuts?"**

"It was a learning experience." Harry called out before anyone could protest.

**"The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins, and the owl held out his leg so Harry could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then he flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up, and stretched.**

**"Best be Off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

Draco paled but kept reading. His mother noticed and glared at him.

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something that made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"Not the happy balloon!" The Marauders and Weasley twins shouted while Harry rolled his eyes at them.

**"Um - Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money - and you heard Uncle Vernon last night ... he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

Harry's close friends and family all laughed at how naive he had been.

"I know, I know, I was naive, let's move on."

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"Of course we will...would...did...I'm confused." James said.

"What a surprise." Lily muttered. Harry, Sirius, and Remus laughed so hard they could barely breathe.

**"But if their house was destroyed -"**

Now almost everyone was laughing.

**"They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold - an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

"Hagrid," the Golden Trio sighed fondly.

**"Wizards have banks?"**

**"Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

**"Goblins?"**

"Naive, naive, naive!" Harry slammed his head into Sirius' shoulder.

"Yes, yes you were." Sirius consoled mockingly.

**"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe - 'cept maybe Hogwarts. **

"Not lately." Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione, who nodded in agreement. Sirius and James heard and exchanged looks.

**As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see.**

"It's a good thing too, or our lives would be so much harder." Ron said quietly. Harry smirked and Hermione laughed.

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out onto the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

"It was still there?" Fred asked incredulously. Harry nodded.

"I was just as surprised as you, trust me."

**"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat. "Flew," said Hagrid.**

**"Flew?"**

**"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. **

"I was not thrilled about that." Harry said, looking sick.

"Why would you be?" Hermione asked rhetorically.

**Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

"Persistent child." Lily muttered.

"Yeah, I wonder where he gets it from," James said amusedly.

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

"It's Harry you're talking about. He's basically the king of leaving things out." Ginny said with an innocent grin towards Harry. The Marauders and Lily all looked at him in concern.

"Thanks Gin," Harry grumbled. She just gave him a quick, devious smile in return.

**"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. **

"Told you," Ginny sang.

**Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat, and they sped off toward land.**

"He was wrongly accused and cleared of all charges last year." Harry called at Umbridge's gleeful look. It quickly turned into a glare.

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

**"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the highsecurity vaults.**

"There are." Harry confirmed and Charlie glared at Bill.

**And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

"Someone shot that theory out of the air." Hermione stated.

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learned from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

"Yeh coulda asked me questions." Hagrid said sadly.

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

**"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, 0 ' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one. **

Fudge opened his mouth to speak, but then Ginny said sweetly, "So true!"

**So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

"Excellent question, Harry, I'm still trying to figure that out.". Sirius whispered and Harry chuckled.

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

"So basically dealing with muggles? Then shouldn't Mr. Weasley's department be one of the most important?" Harry asked curiously. The Ministry officials pretented not to hear, except for Madam Bones.

"Yes." She said simply.

**"Why?"**

**"Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

"Well said." Madam Pomfrey commended Hagrid.

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper, and they clambered up the stone steps onto the street.**

**Passersby stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

All the muggle-raised snorted.

**"Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"**

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

"That was a nightmare." Ron shuddered. "Almost as bad as the spiders."

**"You'd like one?"**

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money," as he called it, gave the bills to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

"But its so simple! The numbers are written on them!" Hermione protested. Ron just shrugged.

"It depends on how you were raised."

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

No one wanted to ask.

**"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

"Yup."

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before, and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY**

**UNIFORM**

**First-year students will require:**

**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

"Good for putting out fires," Harry said conversationally.

**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**

**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

**COURSE BOOKS**

**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**

**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**

**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emetic Switch**

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**

**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**

**"**Has anyone ever noticed that a lot of the books have authors whose names have to do with the subject." Hermione asked. Many people thought about it, and then nodded with a look of surprise on their faces. Harry shot Hermione a thumbs up.

**OTHER EQUIPMENT**

**wand **

**cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) set**

**glass or crystal phials**

**telescope set**

**brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

Everyone in 5th year and up laughed.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. **

"That's sad." A Ravenclaw said.

**Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground, and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

"I was waiting for someone to call the cops." Harry whispered to his godfather, who let out a deep, bark-like laugh.

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator that led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger restaurants and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. **

Magic-raised kids snorted.

**This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks? Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up? **

"Dursleys?" Fred asked.

"Joke?" George continued.

"Never!" They said together.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"Its Hagrid." Harry said simply and the Gryffindors nodded.

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it. **

"Nice observation Potter," Moody said gruffly.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. **

The Marauders and Weasley twins laughed.

**A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. **

Snorts from the Marauders. When Harry shot Remus an inquiring look, the man mouthed 'later.'

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

"Four pints of mulled mead." The Golden Trio said together. Professor McGonagall shot them a look and they blushed.

"How'd you know?" Sirius muttered.

"Some help from Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs." Harry said just as quietly.

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

**"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be -?"**

"And it begins." Harry groaned, burrying his head in Sirius' shoulder. Sirius raised a hand and ruffled his godson's hair.

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

**"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... what an honor."**

"Not anymore." Ron whispered to Hermione who slapped him.

"Honestly...a teaspoon." She rolled her eyes.

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

**"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him.**

"Hate that." Harry muttered into Sirius' shoulder.

**The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"Yikes." Tonks murmured.

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

**"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."**

**"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"Bet that made his day," James laughed.

**"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

The Golden Trio twitched.

**"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

Ron amd Hermiome growled while Harry shivered.

**"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you."**

"Yeah, I bet you were pleased." Harry snarled, moving his face out of Sirius' shoulder and resting the side of his head there instead.

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

Many students in 5th year and above made statements of 'none' or 'being scared.'

**"D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," **

"Irony thy name is-" Harry quickly nudged Ron who slapped a hand over Hermione's mouth. She glared at the two boys.

"If you were going to say what I think you were going to say, you would have ruined everything." Harry pouted. He knew Hermione was about to say 'irony, thy name is Voldemort,' which was true; the Dark Lord always ended up being the DADA teacher...or one of his minions did.

**muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

"Yeah, okay." Ron rolled his eyes.

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

"Poor Hawwy," Sirius mocked and Harry stuck out his tongue.

**"Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

**"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

Lily rolled her eyes.

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was**

**studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag **

"If only," Hermione sighed.

**- never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. **

"Your head does funny things," Luna said dreamily.

**Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.**

**"Three up... two across he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.**

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

"Love that place," George said.

"Especially Gambol and Japes Joke Shop," Fred added.

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.**

"You noticed the cauldrons first?" Remus asked, amused.

"Yeah, I was actually interested to learn potions..."

"What happened?" Lily asked.

"You'll see."

**"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. **

Ron winced.

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad..."**

"It was mad, wasn't it Madam Pomfrey?" Harry asked slyly.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"**

"Not anymore," Sirius smirked.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon...**

"You seemed to have an interest in school," Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Umm...well...I..." Harry stuttered.

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was -**

"Gryffindor colors?" Tonks raised an eyebrow.

**"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside.**

"Very observant," Moody mused.

**Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

**Enter, stranger, but take heed**

**Of what awaits the sin of greed,**

**For those who take, but do not earn,**

**Must pay most dearly in their turn.**

**So if you seek beneath our floors**

**A treasure that was never yours,**

**Thief, you have been warned, beware**

**Of finding more than treasure there.**

"Kind of creepy," Hermione shuddered.

**"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall,**

"Does that mean you tried?" Neville asked. Harry smiled and nodded, picking his head up off Sirius' shoulder.

**and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

**"You have his key, Sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, **

Harry sniggered in remembrance.

**scattering a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

**"That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the YouKnow-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

The Order groaned.

"So that's how your curiosity was peaked." Remus grinned.

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

**"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have Someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

"And it begins," Ron said fondly and ruffled Harry's hair. Harry glared at him. "Sorry."

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"Would've been less dangerous if he had just _told _me." Harry moaned. Everyone looked at him. He smiled weakly. "Oops, did I say that out loud?"

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible. **

"The fact that you remembered that much is impressive, Mr. Potter," Madam Bones said, impressed. Harry blushed.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. **

"Idiot Gryffindor."

"Slippery Slytherin."

"Hero complex."

"Aristocrat." Draco didn't know what to say back, so instead, he glared.

**Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late - - they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Mione, don't explain." Harry laughed.

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. **

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes.

**"An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

People looked at Harry in envy, and he glared back. "Are you jealous of the fact that I have money? Because I would give it all up if it meant I could live with people who love me.".

"Soon, Harry. Soon." Sirius whispered.

**"All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. **

People looked at Harry in pity amd he ignored them.

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. **

"I still mix it up." Harry muttered.

**Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

**"One speed only," said Griphook.**

The Quidditch players grinned.

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

"Spoilsport."

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

**"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

**"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin.**

"There's a way to avoid it." Hermione realized.

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault, Harry was sure, and he leaned forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"How long did that last?" Ron mocked.

"Shut up, you." Harry rolled his eyes.

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"That was a strange feeling." Harry remembered.

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts, clear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. "**

Draco paled.

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him) slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length.**

**"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"**

**"Yes," said Harry.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to took at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"Draco Malfoy," Narcissa said warningly.

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

**"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

**"No," said Harry.**

**"Play Quidditch at all?"**

**"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

The Gryffindor Quidditch team laughed.

**"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

**"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"Don't, no one knows, I thought I'd get stuck in Slytherin." Sirius comforted.

"Um, Padfoot, you know this happened over four years ago, right?" Harry asked in mock concern. Sirius ruffled his hair and tickled him a little in response.

**"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" **

"No."

**"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

**"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.**

**"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

**"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"Nope."

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

**"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"Guilty," Remus raised his hand hesitantly as James, Sirius, and Harry roared in laughter. Everyone else stared at him. "What? I _am _a Marauder you know. Even if I don't act like it...most of the time."

**"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

**"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

**"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

"I would have wanted to see his face if you had." Ginny laughed.

**"Oh, sorry," said the other,. not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"Good, diplomatic answer, Harry," Lily complemented.

"Thanks mum." Harry said and her face lit up.

**"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. **

"Neither did I." Harry rolled his eyes.

**I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," **

"Darn, that would've been funny." Alicia smiled.

**and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

"Yes, unfortunately," Harry drawled in an identical tone.

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"My favorite." Lily and Harry piped up, looked at each other, and then laughed.

**"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

**"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

**"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!**

"Don't make him feel worse," Tonks huffed.

**"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. **

"Freaky," Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

**He told Hagrid about the pate boy in Madam Malkin's.**

**"-and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in."**

**"Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line 0' Muggles - look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"Mum was the best witch of her time and Mione's the best witch of ours, and both of them are muggleborn."

**"So what is Quidditch?"**

**"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like - like soccer in the Muggle world - everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"No its not." Almost all the Quidditch players protested.

**"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

**"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"**

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff" said Harry gloomily.**

"Hey!" Tonks protested.

"Sorry, Tonks," Harry said sincerely.

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. **

"Yeah, there have been." Harry said shortly. "And not all Slytherins are bad."

**You-Know-Who was one."**

**"Vol-, sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

**"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. **

Hermione and a lot of Ravenclaws smiled.

**Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue- Tying and Much, Much More) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

**"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

The Marauders cheered.

**"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

"We'll do some 'independent study' this summer." Sirius whispered to Harry, who grinned deviously.

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. **

Harry coughed slightly and looked towards Snape.

**Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

**"Just yer wand left - A yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

**Harry felt himself go red.**

Which he repeated in the present time.

**"You don't have to -"**

**"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at - an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."**

"That they are." Professor Sprout nodded.

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. **

"I love Hedwig." Harry sighed.

**He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

"Ugh." Harry growled.

**"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

"Everyone does." James smiled.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"Merlin's," Hermione volunteered.

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

The Marauders gaped at him. Harry sighed. "What now?"

"The fact that you could feel it means you're sensitive to magic. There's a lot to say about that, so we'll talk later, 'kay?" Harry nodded.

**"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

The more vindictive Slytherins sniggered softly.

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"I think you have some very crearive wrackspurts...the way you describe things is beautiful." Harry smiled.

"I think so, Luna."

**"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

**"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"Yeah." Lily said, staring at her wand.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

**"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. **

"Yup." James smiled, twiling his wand around.

**Well, I say your father favored it - it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

Many younger students shivered.

**"And that's where..."**

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

This time it was Harry who shivered, remembering the last pale finger that touched his scar. Harry felt Sirius grasp his shoulder and placed one of his hands on top, welcoming the comfort.

**"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do..."**

Harry shuddered again.

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

**"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

**"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

**"Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

**"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

**"Oh, no, sit," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

"Of course not." Angelina said sarcastically.

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

**"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"I was so confused when he asked me." Hermione said sheepishly.

**"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

**"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

**"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try -"**

**Harry tried - but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

**"No, no -here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. **

"How many wands did you try, mate." Ron asked incredulously.

"Lost count after 61." Harry admitted.

**He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

**"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

Harry twirled his wand when it was finally mentioned.

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework,**

"Like a phoenix." Remus murmured.

**throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious... "**

Harry groaned.

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious..**

**"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

"Why did I ask?"

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

**"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother why, its brother gave you that scar.**

Gasps filled the hall and Harry tried not to remember the graveyard, only succeeding because of the hand on his shoulder, telling him it was okay.

**Harry swallowed.**

**"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. **

"Didn't he already say that?" Hermione asked Harry, who nodded.

**Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter... After all, He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."**

"Creepy." Ron stated.

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

"I wasn't too upset to be leaving." Harry laughed.

**The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the snowy owl asleep in its cage on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

"Were you doing your deep thinking thing?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, you'll see what about in a moment I believe." Harry said.

**"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Lily agreed.

**"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life - and yet - he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

**"Everyone thinks I'm special," **

"You are." A lot of Gryffindors commented.

**he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? **

"You proved their expectations right." James said proudly. "At least, from what I've heard."

**I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."**

**Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"Always does." Ginny smiled.

**"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"That was great advice Hagrid." Remus smiled.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"Yay." Harry said sarcastically.

**"Yer ticket fer Hogwarts, " he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yeh soon, Harry."**

"He didn't mention how to get onto to platform, did he?" Sirius facepalmed.

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"End of the chapter," Draco sighed, relieved. Harry accioed the book over so he could see who should read next.

"I'm going to have to give this one to Ron. Sorry, mate." Harry laughed at his red-haired friend's grumbling.

Ron picked up the book and began to read.


End file.
